The Crystal Method Releases 'The Trip Out' Album

The Trip Out, released today, April 15 on Ultra Records, has pioneering American electronic act The Crystal Method (Scott Kirkland) looking to the future and embarking on collaborations with some of today's most exciting and musically diverse artists.

Pushing The Crystal Method's new sound to the forefront is the album's riotous lead single "Watch Me Now" featuring Koda & VAAAL, which debuted this past Monday, April 11, live on NBC's "American Song Contest."

Kirkland, who is competing for and representing his native state of Nevada, was joined by an all-star band featuring players from NIN, Rammstein, A Perfect Circle and more: Danny Lohner (guitar), Hannah van der Molen (bass), Joe Letz (drums), KODA (lead vocals) and VAAAL (percussion, keys). View the performance here.

The official music video for "Watch Me Now" is also out today - an animated stylish love letter to Nevada. Conceived and directed by Micah Monkey (Micah Chambers-Goldberg), the video is about a woman dropped into the harsh Mojave desert in rags by two sinister men-in-black figures piloting a flying saucer.

They torment her until she calls upon her crystal ship and takes her rightful seat as an other-worldly queen. She wreaks vengeance on Area 51 before rocketing off, along with The Crystal Method's tour bus, to a crystalline Las Vegas. It's a story about determination and overcoming adversity. The play of black and white vs. vivid color, and 2D vs 3D animation creates a truly unique visual experience.

This new project is ushering in another first for TCM, a NFT release. Bringing the future sound of The Crystal Method into Web3 is MakersPlace, the premier marketplace for rare and authentic digital artworks, who will release the TCM "WATCH ME NOW" drop, a video and collection of images from Micah Monkey's animation. The drop will be released on April 26 at 3:30pm PT.

Primarily written in 2020, the new album loosely centers around the idea of escapism-a timely theme amid a year of shuttered venues, canceled tours and global lockdowns. Singles from The Trip Out include "House Broken" feat. Naz Tokio, a get-dirty bombastic floor banger featuring powerfully poignant vocals, serpentine synths and drop that will bring the room to a boil, as well as "Act Right" featuring Billy Dean Thomas and VAAAL which had Billboard raving (no pun intended!), "... a carnival style party-starter featuring horns that sound like the trumpeting of an elephant and big ol' whalloping beats that will leave you out of breath by the end."

The Crystal Method also teamed with pioneering UK breakbeat producer Hyper for a unique single -- "Post Punk" featuring legendary Stooges frontman Iggy Pop. Borrowing a soundbite from Jim Jarmusch's Stooges documentary Gimme Danger, the track is built upon distorted synths and heavy drums, while Iggy Pop-in his signature, gravelly voice-asserts his individuality. "I don't want to be a punk. I don't want to belong to any of it," he pronounces. "I just want to be."

Originally formed in Las Vegas in the early nineties by co-founders Scott Kirkland and Ken Jordan (now retired), The Crystal Method is one of the most successful American electronic acts. Pioneers of the big beat genre and innovators of the '90s electronica movement, The Crystal Method has remained at the forefront of the worldwide dance music industry for more than two decades.

The Crystal Method celebrates a 25+-year career in the music scene, which has resulted in an extensive discography that includes: the platinum-selling Vegas (1997), the band's debut studio album and one of the top-selling albums worldwide by an American electronic artist ever; Tweekend (2001); Legion of Boom (2004) and Divided by Night (2009), both of which received GRAMMY nominations in the Best Electronic/Dance Album category; and The Crystal Method (2014). The Trip Home--released in 2018--served as the sixth full-length The Crystal Method album and Kirkland's first as a newfound solo act. Its follow-up The Trip Out is out now via Ultra Records.

As The Crystal Method, Kirkland's music and creative output also extends into film and TV, where his credits include: the theme song for hit Fox TV show Bones; the score for indie film London; composing all the music for the J.J.-Abrams-executive-produced Fox TV drama Almost Human; the film score for the 2017 documentary Hired Gun: Out of the Shadows, Into the Spotlight; and the theme song for 3 Below, the Netflix TV series from Academy Award winner Guillermo del Toro, as well as writing additional music and the end title for Netflix's move Trollhunters - Rise of the Titans.

Listen to the new album here:

Watch the new music video here:

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